


Waiting By the Porch Light

by Luvless34



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020), Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, On The Way To A Smile: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Cloti - Freeform, F/M, Family, Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:02:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24167794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luvless34/pseuds/Luvless34
Summary: Tifa Lockhart is dealing with the departure of Cloud Strife after building a new home together in Edge. He left without warning, and she wondered what she did to make him leave. But, little did she know why he left.
Relationships: Tifa Lockhart/Cloud Strife
Comments: 4
Kudos: 42





	Waiting By the Porch Light

**Waiting By the Porch Light**

Tifa Lockhart was sitting at the bar counter, drinking a glass of Corel wine. It was late at night, and all the customers had been sent home hours ago. Yet, the owner of the bar was still awake. Having counted down the till and catching up inventory, she was still trying to keep her thoughts off the past. 

And, there was a recent development that made her decide to drink. She rarely did herself, despite being a bartender, but it was a reason that made her close her eyes and wish nothing more to keep thinking she was in an ever-growing nightmare. 

Cloud Strife had left Seventh Heaven, and there was no way of knowing if he’ll ever come back. She at first thought that something happened to the young man while he was out on his deliveries. A wreck on Fenrir, or maybe there were monsters that got to him, and he was laying out on the side of the road bloodied and desperate for help?

But residents of Edge had seen Cloud making his usual rounds, and he seemed alright, they would reassure her. They weren’t aware of the living situation and the strange development in behavior, but Tifa knew and she was dealing with the sudden distance that took years for the two of them to bridge. 

_“Did I do something to make him leave?”_ Tifa thought to herself. She knew things were tense between the two of them, but she thought that things were better once Denzel joined the family. She wondered if the smile that Cloud gave her, reassuring her that things would be OK, was just a trick of the light. _“I’m sure...the kids weren’t the reason.”_

The bartender slowly raised her glass, taking another sip. 

“Tifa?” A small voice called out to her. 

Tifa turned toward the voice, and saw little Marlene standing nearby with a saddened expression on her face. The 6-year-old had grown to be quite sensitive to the changes within adults, and she must’ve noticed how Tifa was drinking alone, which was rare for her. 

“Where’s Cloud?” Marlene asked quietly. “Did he...come back from his deliveries?”

It was a painful question, but Tifa knew that she couldn’t lie to Marlene. Nor, did she want to tell her the truth. The little girl still managed to piece the story together from the very few details that Tifa gave. 

“He’s...not coming back, is he?” Marlene asked, her eyes starting to water. 

The little girl started shifting her weight from one foot to another. Tifa didn’t want to answer her but she instead turned to her adoptive daughter and smiled. 

“How’s Denzel?” Tifa asked, wanting to change the subject. Marlene seemed to grasp this shift in conversation and decided to play along. 

“He’s OK,” Marlene said, nodding her head. “He had some trouble sleeping earlier, but he fell right back to bed.”

  
The little girl was growing up quickly. Tifa noted how much Marlene’s personality was shared with her, and the girl developed her own sense of style. She chose to wear a turtle-neck, sleeveless sweater dress in a pretty cream color with laced up boots. 

She had been growing out her hair lately, and soon, started styling it in a single plait running down her back in a ponytail, secured with a pink hair ribbon not unlike the one that a certain flower girl used to wear during the old days.

Maybe a tribute to the woman who rescued her and put her in a safe place before the fall of the plate in Sector 7. 

It wasn’t too painful of a sight, but Tifa knew Marlene was young and was still figuring out things that happened two years ago. Including the death of Aerith Gainsborough. 

_“I’m one of the reasons why Aerith died,”_ Tifa thought to herself. _“If I hadn’t been so caught up in gaining revenge against Shinra and got her involved with my own desires to get information, she could be at home with Elmyra and still be here with us.”_

She recalled how Aerith met her in the basement of Don Corneo’s mansion, and how willing the flower girl was in getting involved so that Tifa could get the information needed to get her friends and Marlene out of Sector 7 before Shinra dropped the plate. 

It was a reminder of her past sins, and Tifa was grieving on her own over the loss of the beautiful maiden who was fated to lie beneath the waters at the Forgotten City. The sole Cetra taken away by the steel blade of the murderer who destroyed her hometown and slain her father in cold blood. 

Yet, Marlene didn’t remember Aerith in those heartbreaking moments. She just remembered the flower girl who came to take her to her house, where she stayed with Elmyra in Kalm. The hair ribbon was one of the distinctive features she remembered of the young woman, and chose to carry on with it.   
  


So, Tifa didn’t say a word about it, other than telling Marlene it looked nice. She took one more sip and noted the clock hanging on one of the walls. 

“Time for bed, Marlene,” Tifa said. “I’ll come tuck you in.”

She then felt unexpected tears forming in her eyes, thinking about how lonely the nights will be without Cloud sharing the bed. The place where he normally slept had given her comfort, knowing someone was there to be that protective figure in her life. 

Marlene seemed to know this, and instead casted her face upwards toward Tifa’s conflicted gaze at the stairs leading to the second level of Seventh Heaven. 

“Would...would it be OK if I slept with you, Tifa?” Marlene asked. “I’ve been getting nightmares lately. I don’t want to wake Denzel.”

Tifa knew that Marlene was fibbing, but it was for a reason. She gently smiled at the little girl and nodded. 

“Of course you can,” she said, taking a hold of Marlene’s hand as they headed toward the stairs. Suddenly, Tifa paused and then looked back. 

There was a rumbling, and Tifa imagined that it sounded an awful lot like Fenrir. 

“Say, Marlene, would you mind heading upstairs and get ready for bed? I’ll be there soon. I forgot to do something.”

The little girl nodded and ascended the stairs, leaving Tifa alone in the bar. The young woman looked around her at the darkened room and sighed. 

She then slowly walked toward the front where the light switches were. Tifa peered out the window, hoping to see someone waiting there, but when she didn’t, she gently flipped one of the light switches that turned on a porch light. A warm glow was cast into the darkness of the night, serving as a beacon of sorts. 

“I hope you’re OK, wherever you are,” Tifa whispered. She then slowly headed upstairs, leaving the porch light on. 

* * *

**_Several hours ago_ **

It was a hot summer day, and Cloud was getting close to the end of his day’s routes. He had collected payment of gil and slowly proceeded back to Edge. There weren’t many things left for the day, aside from delivering a letter to a woman who lived near Kalm. 

He checked his phone and saw the many missed calls and unreturned messages from Seventh Heaven. Cloud sighed and closed his phone. It seemed cold, but he felt like this was for the best. He didn’t want to bring this new predicament onto Tifa and the kids. 

_“It’s my problem,”_ Cloud thought quietly. _“I’m the one that needs to deal with it.”_

Cloud pulled on his driving goggles and revved up Fenrir’s engine. He accelerated the speed of his bike, and soon, he was on his way to Kalm. He zipped through the dusty roads, the wind rushed through his blonde spikes as he turned into a twist on the road. 

The smell of wildflowers and prairie grass filled his nose. In comparison, Cloud felt relatively small under the canvas of the bright blue sky above him. These rides were glorious, and gave him a sense that he had the ability to give back to the Planet instead of just taking. 

These delivery routes were dangerous to many, and some were completely cut off from where the Lifestream had spewed from the ground. Yet, Cloud was becoming an expert cartographer, and was able to create more maps of alternative routes to find his destination that’s safer, albeit he’s trying to figure out shortcuts. 

It took about 20 minutes from where he was, but Cloud made it to Kalm without too many problems. He knocked on the door to an old woman’s house, who graciously accepted the letter and then tipped Cloud with a small tin of cookies she baked. 

Cloud set off on the road again, heading back to Edge. He was aware that the residents there were watching him, probably wondering why his presence at Seventh Heaven wasn’t frequent as before. He didn’t care to answer those questions, instead turning his focus on his return trip to his new place.   
  
Several hours later, Cloud pulled to a stop in front of a familiar structure in Sector 5. With a burdened sigh, Cloud turned the keys in Fenrir off before slowly panning his gaze at his new home. 

It was Aerith’s Church. 

Cloud hopped off and slowly headed inside the building, and noted how everything was left the way it was before his adventures of leaving Midgar. The wooden doors creaked, and there, in the middle of the church was a small patch of yellow flowers that seemed to greet him. 

“I think...I’m going to stay here permanently, Aerith,” Cloud muttered to himself. “I hope you don’t mind it...I just...don’t think I can go back home. Not with Tifa and the kids there. Not...like this.”

He hesitated, but then disconnected the long sleeve that covered up his left arm. There, concealed underneath the fabric, was the black sickly mark of Geostigma. It was contained to one part of his body, and every once in a while, Cloud would get painful aches and black ooze would form. 

“I failed you, Aerith,” he said through gritted teeth at a sudden pang of pain. “I failed to save you. Now, I’m going to fail Tifa and the children too. What good am I to anyone?”

The mercenary slowly walked across the wooden floorboards, kicking up dust into the air as he examined the ruins around him. It wasn’t as cozy or warm as Seventh Heaven was, but it will do. He needed to keep himself away from his loved ones. The thought of possibly giving Geostigma to Tifa or to Marlene was enough of a reason. 

Denzel. The young boy who had been found outside of the church and Cloud had delivered to Tifa, he frowned at the thought of possibly also losing him to Geostigma. There were endless nights when Cloud would stay up in his office, trying to research a potential cure for Denzel, or at least, alleviate the symptoms. 

It was a lot for Cloud, but he didn’t want to think about failing to save another living being. Yet, he was unable to protect himself. Now he has been marked by the Planet, possibly as a price for inflicting damage onto it. He had too many sins to bear, and now, his inability to save anyone he loved was costing him his life. 

“I’m sorry to let you down,” Cloud said bitterly. “I’m sorry.”

There was a gentle breeze that came through the church, and in an almost caressing way, touched Cloud’s face. He knew Aerith’s spirit was still here, possibly watching over him as he continued to fight the Geostigma coursing through his veins. 

He rolled out his bedding, and turned on the kerosene lamp that sat on top of a small crate that Cloud used for storing his provisions. Off to the side was another box, but inside of it were multiple colorful orbs of glowing Materia from their previous battles years ago. 

Cloud hissed as he unwrapped the bandage that was covering his Geostigma. There was a foul, decomposing odor coming from it. He took extra care in wiping the pus bubbling from the sore with water from his canteen and applied some antiseptic cream onto it. 

He knew it did little to make any significant changes in his condition, but Cloud rather it’d be something to just slow down the spread as much as possible. Taking a new roll of clean cotton bandages, Cloud wrapped his arm slowly, grunting at the pain. 

It was enough that his eyes started watering, and he winced as he tightly wound the wrap around his infection. Once completed, he sighed and sat himself up against the church wall. The broken stained glass glittered from golden hour, signaling to Cloud that the sun was setting and soon, he’d be getting ready for bed. 

He tossed his old dressings off to the side, where the dirty bandage fluttered on top of the crate. Cloud thought about retrieving it, but he was tired and he didn’t want to bother with it. 

Just as Cloud started to get settled, he groaned in frustration. He had forgotten his calipers from Seventh Heaven that he needed for his mapping. He thought about retrieving it in the morning, but that would mean running into Tifa and the kids, and being bombarded with questions. 

Guiltily, Cloud thought about his intentions and knew full well that there was a reason why he distanced himself. He was afraid of losing everything that made his life so peaceful and blissful during the last few months. He had never had a normal life, and that was something that terrified him. 

Life at Seventh Heaven was beautifully simple. He recalled the mornings he would wake up next to Tifa, they’d giggle like a young new couple and they’d spend the mornings getting Seventh Heaven ready along with Marlene and yes, granted the last few months also proved difficult, they were working through them together. 

At this moment, Cloud could imagine Tifa counting down the till at the bar, wiping down the counters and redoing the inventory of their ingredients for drinks and food. The children would be upstairs getting ready for bed. Normally, Tifa would be waiting for him to come home after his routes. 

She was the one who would stay up all night waiting for every family member to come home after a long day. It was in her nature to care so deeply about each person, and not resting until she knew they were all back where they belonged, safe. 

This image of Tifa caused Cloud to sigh and he felt the oppressive feeling of guilt again. He glanced down at his phone, and saw the time. Without too much debate, he stood up again and decided to head out to Seventh Heaven to grab his item before settling down. 

* * *

Cloud drove Fenrir to Seventh Heaven and parked outside near the alley.. He thought for certain that the rumbling of the bike would cause Tifa to come outside. But, there was no sign of anyone stirring at the sound. He looked down at this phone. It was midnight, meaning everyone was probably sleeping and nothing would wake them. 

Suddenly, Cloud saw a shape through a window, causing him to duck down quickly. It was Tifa. She had been drawn to the window for some reason. After a little while, there was nothing. The mercenary sighed and felt his heart ache for not being able to show his face to Tifa. 

Then, without warning, a porch light turned on. Cloud sat there, crouched underneath the window and then slumped to the ground, leaning up against Seventh Heaven from his hiding spot. This was Tifa’s way of letting people know that she was waiting for them and to come inside whenever they were ready. 

He sat there, wondering what he should do, but then heard Tifa’s voice. 

“I hope you’re OK, wherever you are,” she said in a near whisper. 

Little did she know that Cloud was sitting right beneath the window, and he heard her. He wanted so much to walk into the bar and hug her. He missed her. But, he didn’t feel deserving of that. Here he was hiding his face from her, just like when he felt too ashamed of showing himself in Nibelheim when he failed to make SOLDIER. 

_“Guess things haven’t changed that much, did it?”_ Cloud thought miserably. “ _Some hero I turned out to be.”_

It was at that moment Cloud decided to head back to the church instead of going inside to grab his mapping supplies. He slowly made his way back to Fenrir, turned on the bike and gave Seventh Heaven one more look before he zoomed away into the cold night. 


End file.
